Tag Archives: chinese

Book Title: American Panda (Standalone)
Author: Gloria Chao
Number of pages: 320

Synopsis:

At seventeen, Mei should be in high school, but skipping fourth grade was part of her parents’ master plan. Now a freshman at MIT, she is on track to fulfill the rest of this predetermined future: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, produce a litter of babies.

With everything her parents have sacrificed to make her cushy life a reality, Mei can’t bring herself to tell them the truth–that she (1) hates germs, (2) falls asleep in biology lectures, and (3) has a crush on her classmate Darren Takahashi, who is decidedly not Taiwanese.

Should this book be picked up? the tl;dr review:

– First generation Taiwanese American protagonist beginning university at MIT at age 17 (one year earlier than her age cohort)
– Struggles of culture and family expectations balanced against protagonist’s passion and her struggle with germaphobia being a hindrance to her current success at school
– The setting/world building is lush with Chinese culture re: traditions, idioms, food, art, values, etc.
– Heavy on the instalove romance with a Japanese love interest

Initial Thoughts

Like looking into a mirror.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of American Panda from Simon and Schuster Canada.

Awards/Tags are just pointlessly fun blog posts that eat up your time.

Awards/TagsLunar Year Book Tag

The other day, I was asked by Tiff @ Mostly YA Lit if I wanted to help create a fun tag for Chinese New Year. Granted, Tiff did 99% of all the creative work and should really be given most of the credit!

You can join in on all of the Lunar Year celebrations by adding your post and visiting other tag posts here: